Summer Conference

CONFERENCE THEME

Things we should be talking about in International Education

We didn’t start the fire

It was always burning

Since the world’s been turning

We didn’t light it but we tried to fight it.

(NB for folks who stream music and don’t utilize old technology, except for the hipsters who think they discovered vinyl: These lyrics are from a popular music song released by the artist Billy Joel, including in its text brief, rapid-fire allusions to more than one hundred headline events between 1949, the year of Joel's birth, and 1989, when the song was released.)

International Education has been around since Socrates, but we are now its stewards. Like the colour of our eyes and hair, the uncanny genetics of our hips and waistlines, our health and our handwriting, like the old dining room suite, the cups and saucers and feeding Uncle Rodger every Christmas, we may have inherited much of this sector but now we own it. Even proud parents have to admit that their children are not good at everything, and that sometimes they are downright awful.

We apparently need to talk about our relationship. We might start by reflecting on what we think we are doing, and why, by poking holes in some of the assumptions embedded in International Education, by looking at things we are talking about, by suggesting things we should be talking about.

(And talk we do. As a small aside, it might here be noted that our sector already does a lot of talking, and needs to go to a lot of places and attend an orgy of acronyms to do just that, in no particular order: NAFSA, AIEA, EAIE, APAIE, BCCIE, CBIE, CAPS-I, LC, UC, CICAN, FAUBAI, NAFSA Regional, IPSEA, AMPEI, CACUSS, CUMEX, ICEF, GOING GLOBAL, CONAHEC, BUTEX, USAC, CUSAC, NACAC, CUSAC, USAC, CIEE, PNACAC, CEE, IIE, WISE, CAFCE, ACE, CAIE, AIEC, AIU, and so on ad infinitum. But please do come to BCCIE.)

As you are reading this, it is safe to assume that you are already engaged in the sector, possibly a member of the parish. Many of us know with evangelical zeal that the positives we do so far outweigh the contrary that we can be forgiven for thinking there are no substantive negatives, no issues where we are on the wrong side of history, that all is bread and roses.

Our sector casts a long shadow and there may be other things we should be talking about: climate change and the culpability of our sector with its large carbon footprint; how globalization and its well-intentioned offspring internationalization have spawned the populism and nativism we are so offended by; fake news and the abhorrent lack of inculcation of critical thinking; how cosmopolitanism, inter-culturalization and indigenization have on the streets already overtaken internationalization as prima facie rationale for what we do; housing, mental health, campus suicides, student support and stewardship; culture, sexual assault and predatory behaviour; nature vs. nurture and male violence, the great majority of which is directed towards other males; regional growth and rural engagement; our addiction to unsustainable growth; reconciliation and residential schools; fentanyl, opioids and binge drinking; our complicity in the brain drain, the scourge of globalization; our culling of the top economic strata from the global South’s burgeoning middle classes (our emerging markets) to fill our classrooms, quotas and coffers; our wilful ignorance of the demography and elitism of study abroad, building programs and pedestals for the 1% to springboard their careers.

There are uncomfortable conversations to be had to be sure. Events such as this year’s BCCIE Summer Conference, with a wide-open and hopefully welcoming theme, constitute opportunity to network and learn but also to present new research and thinking, to dispel reigning myths, to offer new ways of looking at things, and new things to look at, to allow us to ponder the existing dialogue and add new topics, to truly create a new narrative.

We have achieved much on this file in BC and in Canada, with a deserved global reputation for quality education and service, word of mouth that you can’t buy, complicity and support from immigration, record levels of unsustainable growth, generally happy crises of too many and not enough. But nothing lasts forever. It may be time to ponder consolidation and introspection.

BCCIE Summer Conference provides an essential platform for the growth of BC’s International Education sector. BCCIE’s annual conference brings together hundreds of participants from our province, across Canada and beyond our borders. The conference attracts senior leaders, researchers, practitioners, student service providers, administrators, government, NGOs, and students to explore these ideas with the aim of strengthening our work and taking steps towards advancing outstanding leadership in the fields of International Education in BC. For more information, view or download the 2017 presentations.

Interested in presenting at BCCIE Summer Conference? Session proposals will be accepted until end of day February 2, 2018. We encourage you to submit proposals with more than one presenter and preference will be given to proposals with speakers from multiple institutions. Interested lead presenters should complete the below Session Proposal Form in full and provide as much detail as possible. Lead presenter and session speakers are responsible for their own transportation, accommodation, and conference registration costs. The full list of concurrent sessions will be announced Spring 2018.

Note: The presentation duration is 60 minutes (45 minutes + 15 minutes for Q&A)
For more information on becoming a session presenter, please email conference@bccie.bc.ca. You can also view the 2017 program and speakers here.

Student Full Registration (limited quantities available)Full-time students at BC institutions may be eligible for a discounted full registration, subject to approval by BCCIE. Please note that if you register as a student you will not be able to represent an institution while attending the conference; registration includes all conference activities and Awards Banquet; excludes pre-conference workshops.

Refunds or partial refunds of conference registration fees paid, less a CAD$100.00 administration fee per individual, and refunds of pre-conference workshops less a CAD$40.00 administration fee per individual per workshop, will be granted until May 17, 2018. Requests must be received in writing to conference@bccie.bc.ca on or before this date. After this date BCCIE is liable for all conference fees for each registered delegate; therefore, regardless of the reason for cancellation, NO REFUNDS WILL BE GIVEN AFTER THIS DATE.

Please note that your registration is non-transferable. Any name changes made on or before May 17, 2018 will incur a Name Change Fee of CAD$45.00 per name change. NO NAME CHANGES WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER THIS DATE. For any questions about registration, please email conference@bccie.bc.ca.

To view the 2018 conference schedule, click below. For more information about the pre-conference workshops, please visit here.

Our 2018 keynote speaker will be Rt. Hon. Kim Campbell.

Keynote Lunch

Date: Monday, June 18, 2018Time: 12:00 – 1:30 p.m.

Right Honourable Kim Campbell PC, CC, OBC, QC

We are very excited to welcome Rt. Hon. Kim Campbell as the BCCIE Summer Conference 2018 keynote speaker. The Rt. Hon. Kim Campbell rose to international fame as Canada’s first female Prime Minister of Canada (1993). She held cabinet portfolios: Minister of State for Indian Affairs, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, and Minister of National Defence and Veterans' Affairs. She served as Canadian Consul General in Los Angeles, taught at the Harvard Kennedy School, and Chaired the Council of Women World Leaders. Ms. Campbell served as International Women's Forum President, and was a founding member and later Secretary General of the Club of Madrid, an organization of former presidents and prime ministers.

Today, Ms. Campbell devotes much of her time to serving as the Founding Principal of the new Peter Lougheed Leadership College at the University of Alberta that graduated its inaugural class in June, 2017. She is also a trustee of the International Center for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR) at King’s College London. In 2016, she was appointed Chairperson the Independent Advisory Board for Supreme Court of Canada Judicial Appointments, a role that she reprised in the fall of 2017.

BCCIE Summer Conference 2018 is expected to attract more than 500 delegates from across Canada and abroad, including institutional and district leaders (e.g., vice-presidents, district principals, directors), senior government officials, NGO representatives, frontline practitioners and other key influencers in the field of International Education. The Conference launch will be supported by a high-profile media campaign across electronic, social media and traditional communication channels.

BCCIE is proud to launch 2018's updated sponsorship brochure, detailing brand-new sponsorship opportunities and a new exclusive sponsorship level: Diamond! All sponsors of Summer Conference 2018 will have the opportunity to:

Profile their organization to an influential audience of top practitioners and decision makers

Network with staff and others who act as a primary liaison with international students and their families, international institutions, agencies, government and supporters

Develop value-added partnerships with some of the leading International Education specialists in Canada

The annual BCCIE International Education Awards recognize the professionalism, dedication and efforts of an exemplary group of experts and practitioners in the field of International Education in British Columbia. Each year's winners represent a broad range of leaders from all parts of the sector and who represent the best and brightest in our province. For more background information, please refer to our listing of previous winners.

Submissions for the 2018 Awards Cycle are now open. The deadline to submit a nomination is April 22, 2018.

The BCCIE International Education Awards will be decided by a peer committee and awarded in the following categories:

Outstanding Program in International Education Award
This is awarded to an institution, district or program to recognize high quality and highly creative programming in International Education.

Rising Star in International Education Award
This award recognizes tomorrow’s leaders, our up-and-coming talent, and the next generation of leaders and practitioners in the field of International Education.

Excellence in International Education Marketing Award
This award recognizes excellence and success in support of the education export sector in British Columbia and the marketing of our world-class education system.

International Education Distinguished Leadership Award
This award recognizes the unique and important accomplishments and contributions of an international educator or member of the community who has effected change and leadership in the field of International Education in a senior leadership position.

Friend of BCCIE Award*
This award recognizes the long-term dedication, work and commitment of an individual or individuals who have made significant contributions in support of International Education in British Columbia, and in so doing, made the goals of BCCIE so much more attainable.

International Education Distinguished Service Award*
This award recognizes the unique and important accomplishments and contributions of an international educator or member of the community who has supported change and the smooth running of the International Education machinery often “leading from behind” and whose work will have a lasting impact.

International Education Lifetime Achievement Award*
This award recognizes the long-term contributions made and the far-reaching impacts realized over a career of commitment to BC’s International Education sector.

BCCIE is offering special conference rates of $249 for Deluxe Rooms and $319 for Premium Rooms at The Westin Bayshore Vancouver during the conference dates.

Our conference room block at The Westin Bayshore is currently at 82.5% capacity.

If you would like to book a different option to the standard room, please call The Westin Bayshore at (604) 682-3377 to receive a quote. Please be advised that the group rate is currently available starting on June 17. If you require a room prior to June 17, please book a room starting on June 17 and send the confirmation number to BayshoreGroup.Reservations@Westin.com to request to be on the waitlist. Please note you will need to identify yourself as a participant of the BCCIE Summer Conference in order to qualify for our conference rate.

BCCIE maintains its commitment to the professional development of new, emerging International Education practitioners in BC. To encourage participation in this year’s conference by those who may not otherwise be able to attend, BCCIE offers its Summer Conference Bursary Program. Bursaries will cover the full registration costs for BC educators. Please note that pre-conference workshop costs are not included and participants will still need to cover transportation and accommodation costs.

To be considered for a bursary, registrants must be based in British Columbia and must complete a Summer Conference Bursary Application by April 29, 2018. Bursary recipients will be selected by a committee and will be notified at the end of May. In return for the bursary, bursary winners will be expected to complete a four hour volunteer shift during the conference.